A university vice chancellor has been dubbed the 'Wolf of Northampton' and
drawn criticism from a union after he was pictured crowd surfing and having
a dance-off at a student awards ceremony

It was planned to be an evening to recognise the achievements of undergraduate students.

But one university vice chancellor appeared to get carried away with the celebrations as he was seen drinking shots, having a dance-off and crowd surfing with students.

Professor Nick Petford, vice chancellor of the University of Northampton, was pictured apparently crowd surfing above the heads of dozens of celebrating students at the event.

The University College Union (UCU) has called for the university to take action over the antics of the vice chancellor, dubbed the ‘Wolf of Northampton’ after the incident, and criticised him for promoting “a laddish culture at the expense of Northampton's reputation.”

It said it was also not surprising the vice chancellor had been compared to the “morally corrupt” Wolf of Wall Street character who is described as leading a “booze-fuelled, hedonistic lifestyle.”

The 52-year-old, who is believed to be paid more than £200,000 a year, was handing out awards at the student union's Stallions Sports Awards held at Northampton Saints Rugby Club on March 20, along with other senior staff.

One student who attended the event said: "He was buying shots for the students and joining in with the Jagerbombs - he was well up for it and having a great time.

"Most of us thought it was a bit of fun but you could tell some people were uncomfortable with his behaviour considering he is so senior.

"There's certain rules I imagine they must abide by when engaging with students and I'm not sure crowd-surfing is one of them.

"I couldn't believe it when he was carried across the room. Its a pretty rock 'n' roll thing to do for a man of his age."

After a three course meal comedian Lee Nelson entertained the crowd of 400 people where he encouraged Mr Petford and other staff to down glasses of wine.

Prof Petford then had a dance competition with staff before being caught on camera crowd-surfing across students, who passed him over their heads on the dance-floor.

Pictures of the incident were posted on Twitter, with the hashtag #wolfofnorthampton.

In a statement the Northampton branch of the University College Union (UCU) said: “The box office hit The Wolf of Wall Street depicts morally corrupt Jordan Belfort enjoying a booze-fuelled, hedonistic lifestyle financed by corruption and criminality.

"To many of the students and staff at the University of Northampton it was disturbing, although perhaps not surprising, when some students adopted the hashtag #WolfOfNorthampton to describe the behaviour of their VC Nick Petford after he indulged in his own apparently booze-fuelled antics, competing in a dance-off.”

The statement said this sort of “laddish” behaviour was not victimless and said some would be “deeply offended” by the incident.

It added: “We are deeply concerned about the disrepute this sort of irresponsible behaviour by our Senior Managers brings to an institution we work hard to support and promote, and call on the governors to address this behaviour so that we - and our students - can continue to be justly proud to be part of the University of Northampton."

A senior lecturer at the university, who did not want to be named, told the Telegraph: "All the staff here are pretty shocked by this type of behaviour.

"When someone is representing the University of Northampton and behaves like this, it is an embarrassment to staff."

Prof Petford is currently believed to be in Hong Kong for a graduation ceremony and conference and was unavailable for comment.

Haviour Chen, President of the University of Northampton Students' Union, said: "We have a responsible drinking policy across the University and we are immensely proud of the diverse student body here at The University of Northampton, it is fantastic that members of staff and our Vice Chancellor join us to celebrate successes as they did at the Sports Awards."